Gear Review: Juke Shaft by Under Armour Lacrosse

Since reviewing the Under Armour Charge Head, we were able to get our hands on some more Under Armour Gear thanks to the crew over at Team 22. The results coming out of Under Armour speak for themselves lately, Under Armour is here to stay. One of the new shafts they sent over to the Lacrosse All Stars office was the Juke shaft. It is available in both 30″ and 60″ lengths and comes in four colors. Let’s take a closer look and see how well it performed through our play-testing.

Appearance… +7.5

The Juke shaft definitely comes in as one of the most unique looking shafts I’ve used. Not so much in terms of structure, but the design on the shaft itself. The design pattern is a mixture of diagonals, squares, and a dash of plaid, with the actual grip of the shaft being a part of the design – it’s pretty cool. As you progress towards the top of the head, the design fades away to only silver.

Lacrosse.com has this baby in four colors: black, sky blue, royal, and gray (like we are using for the review). Not a whole lot of options, but they are all pretty sharp looking.

Grip… +10.0

The grip on the Juke is most likely my favorite part of the shaft. I was definitely a little hesitant at first, but as soon as I started playing with it, I was sold. The grip is made up of a lot of little grips in different shapes and sizes that are all part of a matte finish, which is also grippy. If you look at the picture below, you will see a lot of little maroon shapes in varying places along the shaft. Each one is a raised grip, that oddly enough, works wonders, and as you can tell by the lack of tape on the shaft, is really all you need. I always use two rings of tape (one for shooting, one for the butt-end) on all my shafts, so that went on without a second thought.

The Juke also totes a “scalloped shape for better grip and control”. At first glance, you wouldn’t really notice a difference in appearance. The shaft is only slightly scalloped, which while making for a little extra grip, wouldn’t turn off any one who disliked the powergrips of past.

Each little maroon piece is a raised grip.

Lastly, Under Armour has a fancy new end cap. While not a part of the shaft itself, it came with it, and as you can’t play without one, it is worth looking into. The Under Armour “Screw Fit” end cap replaces your traditional rubber butt-end. This is smart business and relatively untouched in the lacrosse world. Gait has their cork butt-end, but outside of that, they are all gimmicky or purely for looks. It is fairly similar in the fact that it corks the end of the shaft, but this one allows you to screw it on tight and then take it off if your shaft were to break. Smart.

The screw allows you to transfer it from stick to stick, while keeping it secure when in place.

Weight… +7.5

Simply put, this is a featherweight shaft. With the butt-end on and two rings of tape, the shaft still weighed in at only 5.6 ounces. I picked the Juke up and went straight to work, never even thinking about how light it actually was, until a buddy picked it up and made a comment about it.

While it is super light, I do feel that it comes at some expense to the durability, which you will see below.

Durability… +5.0

I go into every Scandium shaft knowing that, while lightweight, it is usually a little more brittle than other shafts. That said, I have yet to break a Scandium shaft. With how light this shaft is though, I’m not surprised that I have seen some wear and tear on it.

More brittle than I would prefer.

While setting up the shaft to fit a different head, I manage to chip away a chunk up by the throat, as well as crack it. This may not have an effect on the overall durability of the shaft right away, but it is definitely worrisome to see before you even use it.

The other big deduction for durability comes from a bend in the shaft after using it. I honestly didn’t even see it until taking photos and noticing a slight bend towards the bottom of the stick. The bend is halfway between my tape rings, so I knew it had to have happened from simply playing defense and bodying people up.

Like any other grip, it’ll chip away after heavy usage.

Value… +7.5

Sitting currently as Under Armour’s second most expensive shaft at $99, I think it’s a pretty fair price. I would also say that this stick might be better off in the hands of a high schooler or someone a little younger. I used it mainly for indoors, both offense and defense and it definitely has some battle scars. If you’re looking for a lightweight, pretty durable shaft, then I’d recommend checking this out. If you plan on taking or dishing out a lot of checks, etc., then I’d look for something with a little more girth.

Overall… 7.2/10

Overall, I thought the shaft was great – definitely a high 7.5 score. It may not be durable for playing indoors and seeing a lot of close play, but even just outdoors, I bet it would last you a season if not longer. You have to look at the full picture as well, the shaft weighed in at 5.6 ounces with both an end-cap AND tape – that’s pretty light.

I will leave you with this super tall picture of the shaft in its entirety. Enjoy!